Lighthouse Avenue buildings come down

MONTEREY &GT;&GT; One of Monterey's most well-known eyesores should be a thing of the past by Friday.

Eight decaying structures on Lighthouse Avenue, between Reeside and Dickman avenues, started coming down Thursday. Developer Carl Outzen said the spot should be cleaned of wreckage in the next few days.

"It's going to be an incredible improvement to what we've had here for the last 30 years," said attorney Dan Clarke, who owns a building next to the site. ". . . I think it's going to be a good thing. I certainly hope it's a good thing."

Outzen bought the 30,250-square-foot property in January 2013, but his plans to build a three-story, mixed-use building on it are still on hold.

He has presented the plan several times to the City Council, Planning Commission and Architectural Review Committee.

Outzen's project has been opposed by the New Monterey Neighborhood Association, which objects to the project's size, number of apartments and potential for traffic congestion.

A final determination on the project is planned at a mid-August City Council meeting.

The property has about 42,600 people walk and drive by every day, said Mahoney & Associates, the firm that brokered last year's sale.

Built in the 1920s and 1930s, the old homes and stores had fallen into disrepair and attracted homeless people and late-night drinkers.

Even a fence put in by Outzen shortly after the purchase did not seem to dissuade trespassers.

The only tenant on the property, The Vinyl Revolution, moved to Pacific Grove.

Demolition revealed an advertisement for Bull Durham tobacco on the north wall of a building occupied by Carbone's Bar. Outzen said the wall dates to at least the 1920s.

Monterey senior associate planner Christy Hopper said records show the building was completely rebuilt in 1944.

However, the building next to it was built in the 1920s, meaning the tobacco advertisement was probably painted before the adjacent structure was built.

The iconic bull in the advertisement was the idea of founder William T. Sherman, who modeled it after Colman's Mustard, which had a bull on its label for much of its history, according to documents provided by the American Tobacco Historic District, based in Durham, North Carolina.

Clarke, who owns the Carbone's building, said he has no plans to paint over the sign — mostly because a large building is planned to go in front of it.

Outzen's plans call for a mixed-use building with 32 apartments above ground-floor shops.

Bar owner Sal Carbone said he was worried he would receive complaints from new tenants about noise at the bar.

Clarke said he has received assurance from Outzen and the city Planning Department that any noise complaints will be the new building's problem, not the bar's.

"This has been a bar for 50 years or more," Clarke said. "We've always had that outdoor space, and it's never been a problem in the past."

As far as the look of the project, planner Kim Cole said the Planning Commission has ruled it is consistent with city guidelines.

Much of the old Lighthouse Avenue buildings were destroyed by the Monterey Fire Department in training exercises allowed by Outzen.

Still, he said he spent around $70,000 to take down the buildings, which also includes inspection, asbestos removal, air pollution permits and demolition.